So, I was typing an essay for my religion class, it was pretty good if I do say so. It was four good size paragraphs, I was re-reading it.......then my computer did something silly and I lost it all. About an hour of my life. Wasted. I thought I had copied and saved it elsewhere, just in case. But no. It was gone. Luckily, I think my teacher will understand. But that does not help the fact that I just spent all that time on something that will count for nothing. I emailed an explanation to my teacher, because the assignment is due tomorrow. Then I had a few bites of chocolate peanut butter fudge to console the frustration :-) But you know, God knows every second of our lives, every hair on our heads. He knows what just happened. He knows my frustrations. Wouldn't you think He can use even this to teach me something about Him and who I am in Him? I just finished Ecclesiastes last night. Let's explore the Old Testament treasures! "I found great pleasure in hard work" (2:10). "For though I do my work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, I must leave everything I gain to people who haven't worked to earn it" (2:21). "There is nothing better than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they can" (3:12). "To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life - that is indeed a gift from God" (5:19). "A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes" (10:4).
Oh, yes, God can use the little moments. Here's what these verses prompt me to ask myself in this moment. Do I enjoy what I am doing with my life? Do I find joy through my work because it is what God wants me to do? Even though I will not necessarily get a letter grade for this assignment did I enjoy what I learned, can I take that and use it in life, did I learn? How can I process the frustration and react in a way that pleases God? How many times a day do I let frustration overpower the still small voice telling me to stop, breathe, and push through with patience and humility? How many little lessons have I missed today because I didn't stop to ask what God might be teaching me?
God is so unfathomable. Yet, He is so present in this tiny moment of my life. How can that be!? I cannot know. But I can tell you that if you seek to feel His presence, to know Him in your daily life, to feel the reality of the religion that surrounds us on bill boards, in mega churches, in worship where we go through the motions, in words we find ridiculous, in stories we can't explain... if you want to know, seek Him, seek truth, seek the love of a Father and you will find it. He is here. He is active. He loves. My life is not guided by some obscure "destiny." It is in the strong, nail-scarred hands of God. Finding Him in this moment makes me desire to know Him more, to have a mind more focused on Him, to become more like Christ, to always see things differently than the world does.
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2
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